1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a mobile image forming apparatus which is easily carried.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an image forming apparatus is connected to a host apparatus in which image data is stored to print image data on media according to an output signal applied from the host apparatus. The image forming apparatus is classified into an inkjet type, an electrophotographic type, and a dye sublimation type according to a method and a function in which an image is formed.
As technology has developed, an image forming apparatus coupled to a portable host apparatus is capable of directly transferring and receiving image data. As photo image data shooting technology through a portable digital camera and a cellular phone has been developed and its use has increased rapidly, it is desirable to output the photo image data from the portable digital camera or cellular phone to the image forming apparatus.
Accordingly, a specialty image forming apparatus designed exclusively to output photo image data has been developed. Among these various image forming apparatuses, a dye sublimation type is widely used since the output photo images from the dye sublimation type have a high resolution and are less likely to be deteriorated by moisture in material properties, and thus are able to be maintained for a long time.
However, the size of the conventional specialty image forming apparatus is bulky and awkward, thus causing a user some difficulty if the user attempts to directly output image data while carrying the conventional specialty image forming apparatus.
Furthermore, because the conventional specialty image forming apparatus does not have a media storing part for storing media inside of the main body, the user is required to feed the media manually, which further aggravates the aforementioned difficulty. Likewise, the conventional specialty image forming apparatus is unable to output printed media successively because of the lack of the media storing part.